The invention relates to a method for controlling a locking system of a motor vehicle wherein states of the locking system are provided in form of an unlocked state, a locked state from which it is possible to switch to the unlocked state via at least a first operating element located inside the vehicle, and a safe state in which it is not possible to switch to the unlocked state by only activating a first operating element. The invention also relates to a corresponding motor vehicle.
Motor vehicles having locking systems with two different states, namely an unlocked state (frequently also referred to as UNLOCK state) and a locked state (LOCK state), are generally known. It has proven to be disadvantageous to use only these two states. Although the LOCK state makes it possible to lock a motor vehicle to the outside even if a person is inside the motor vehicle, so that the doors cannot be easily opened, for example on a dangerous street, a parked unoccupied vehicle is still vulnerable to manipulation by unauthorized third persons who are able to operate control elements intended to be used for switching from the locked state into the unlocked state from the outside, for example with tools. Such first control elements are, for example, the at least partially concealable doorknobs or light emitting diodes frequently arranged on the window which indicate the locked state of the doors, a LOCK-UNLOCK switch or simply the interior door handle which is operated for opening the door.
To prevent this, a locking system for a motor vehicle has been proposed, which has an additional locked state, namely the so-called safe state (frequently also SAFE or a Double-Lock state). The safe state which is activated, for example, when the motor vehicle is locked from the outside—by way of remote control or an external lock, also locks all the doors, but in addition does not allow the lock to be later overridden from the passenger compartment. Operation of a first control element therefore does not cause a change into the unlocked state. This makes it significantly more difficult for an unauthorized third person to open a parked unoccupied motor vehicle.
However, this results in an additional disadvantage. For example, it may happen that—intentionally or unintentionally—a person remains inside the motor vehicle when the locking system is transferred into the safe state. Because the first control elements are deactivated, the person remaining inside the motor vehicle has—with current motor vehicles—no possibility of exiting the vehicle.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a method which allows a person remaining inside the motor vehicle to still exit the motor vehicle in spite of user activation of the safe state, without making it significantly easier for an unauthorized third person to open the motor vehicle from the outside.